Heal What Has Been Hurt
by comealongpond
Summary: When Rapunzel becomes injured on her first night out of the tower, it's up to Eugene to heal her.


**A/N: My friend Meg gets credit for the plot of this story. She drew this gorgeous fan art that I thought was lovely and it inspired this piece. Sorry if it's crap. Some parts feel a bit awkward to me, but oh well…**

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Eugene put the firewood next to the fire and looked around the campsite. Rapunzel had been here just a moment ago. Where was she now? Well, he could always follow her hair, which was still draped around the area. For some reason, it made him a little uneasy that she had wandered off without him. Dare he say he was already getting protective of her?

He sighed. It was natural to be worried about her. She was the key to getting that satchel back, after all. Without her, he would never get his dream. He followed her hair, looking for signs of her. "Blondie?" he called. Then louder, "Blondie!"

He heard her before he saw her. At first, he assumed that she was just having one of her emotional outbreaks (God knows he had had to deal with enough of her tears today). After walking a few more feet, he saw her curled up on the ground, her face hidden, crying profusely. Somehow, he got the feeling that this was different than before.

"Oh, shit, Rapunzel. Are you okay?" he asked, carelessly using her real name. He forgot all about the fact that he was supposed to be acting like he didn't like her. He knelt down next to her, realizing that the ground she was lying on happened to be scattered with rocks.

"I – I…" she said, breathing heavily.

"Come on, you can tell me what happened," he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She sat up, wincing from pain. She was crying too much to talk properly. Being some ways away from the fire, there was not enough light for Eugene to see well. "I, I – fell," she muttered, inhaling sharply as Eugene pushed some of her hair behind her ear. He felt something warm and wet and cursed under his breath, his heart dropping. This was worse than he thought. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known better than to let her out of his sight for even an instant. This was all his fault.

"Now, just – stay calm, okay, Rapunzel?" he said. He was scared beyond belief, but he wasn't about to let her see that. He scooped her into his arms and she whimpered, but he held her tightly as he walked back to the campfire.

"I saw something hiding in the woods," Rapunzel explained, her voice shaky and interrupted by numerous sobs. "And I got scared, so I started running, but then I tripped, and…"

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Eugene whispered. Her breathing seemed to calm down a little, but not much.

When they got back to the campfire, he sat down on the log, Rapunzel in his lap. "Let's see here," he muttered, examining her by the light of the fire. She looked at him with big, scared eyes as he touched her head. There was a dark patch of blood near her left temple, obviously where her head had hit a rock.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she said.

"Well…you're bleeding," he said. Rapunzel gasped in fear and clutched his vest, burying her face into his shoulder.

"Bl-bleeding…I don't…I never…I'm going to die," she moaned. Eugene was at so much of a loss for what to do that he just sat there for a moment, wrapping his arms around her and hating himself for letting this happen. He doubted this injury was actually life-threatening, but whether or not she was overreacting, she was severely freaked out and he felt responsible.

Eugene got an idea just as Rapunzel said something about the "outside world" and "dangerous." In all of his worry, he had forgotten all about Rapunzel's magical hair. (Which wasn't an easy thing to do, so, needless to say – he had been very worried.) He shushed her gently, quieting her down significantly. She was still crying, but at least she wasn't proclaiming her inevitable death anymore. He quickly grabbed some of her hair and held it close to Rapunzel.

He really, really, really hoped this worked.

He closed his eyes, trying to think back to when she healed his hand. It had been less than an hour ago, and yet his memory was proving fuzzy. Too many distractions.

What were the words to that damn song? He had been too busy looking at her hair to pay close attention. He needed to remember, god dammit.

"Shh. You're gonna be okay, Rapunzel," he said, before starting to sing softly, "_Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine…_"

_Please, please work_, he begged silently, opening his eyes a tad to see if anything was happening.

Starting with the roots, her hair began to glow, and Eugene couldn't express how relieved he was. He let out a sigh and hugged her close to him. He kept singing as best as he could, trying to remember how the rest of the song went. He had to hum a few parts, but it was close enough to do the trick. As he finished, her hair faded back to its normal blonde shade.

He loosened his grip on her. "Rapunzel?" he asked. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're better." He could only hope that her hair worked on _her _as well as other people. He pulled her back from him, leaning down a little so he was looking at her eye to eye, and tucked her hair behind her ear again, checking to see if the blood was still there. To his delight, she looked as good as new. He couldn't help but smile. "Thank God," he muttered.

Rapunzel gingerly touched her head before looking at him. "Eugene," she said, wiping her eyes and smiling softly. "You saved me."

"No, it was nothing, really," he said. Honestly, he was just glad it worked. He didn't know how he would be able to live with himself if he hadn't been able to heal her. It was his fault in the first place. He didn't deserve to be treated like a hero.

Without a word, Rapunzel threw her arms around him and gave him a surprisingly strong hug for someone of her size. "Thank you," she said when she finally pulled away, giving him a kiss on her cheek.

"You're – you're welcome," he said. Did he just stutter? What was happening? Flynn Rider _never _lost his cool around girls. "…You're still shaking," he commented, a bit sadly.

"I'm still scared," she admitted, and for a second Eugene thought she was going to cry again.

He could see why she was scared. This was a very big day for her, after all, and she wasn't used to getting hurt. Hell, he was still scared too. He felt all jittery and nervous, a feeling he doubted would go away until Rapunzel had completely recovered. "I know, but you're gonna be okay," Eugene said. "I'll be here the whole night and I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

"Okay," said Rapunzel, sighing. After a moment, she slipped out his arms and started preparing a spot on the ground where she could sleep, making a pillow out of her hair.

"Hey, let me do that," Eugene said, quickly getting up. Rapunzel laughed nervously as he made their "bed." "Now, lay down," he said, smiling and holding his hand out, gesturing the makeshift nest of hair.

He lay down beside her, wrapping his arm around her, pulling her rather close to him. Maybe he was being a little too protective of her, but she had really scared him back there. He couldn't quite explain why, but he really wanted her to know that he was here for her.

"Thanks again," Rapunzel muttered sleepily, cuddling against his chest. She closed her eyes.

He nodded, muttering once again that it was no problem. He held her like this for what felt like forever – until her crying had stopped, her breathing had evened out, and the fire had almost completely died down. It wasn't until he was sure she had fallen asleep that he allowed himself to do the same.


End file.
